JP2021189540A - Electronic shelf tag system and display method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an electronic shelf tag system that can be suitably adapted to the case where multiple commodities are combined and displayed as a group of commodities.SOLUTION: An electronic shelf tag system includes a terminal device, a control device, and one or more shelf tag devices. The terminal device generates display information including information on a plurality of commodities and an identifier of a shelf tag device that displays information on the plurality of commodities. The control device acquires the display information, and based on the display information, generates a display instruction for the shelf tag device corresponding to the identifier of the shelf tag device. The shelf tag device acquires the display instruction for its own device and displays information on the plurality of commodities based on the display instruction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic shelf label system that displays information such as product prices in stores and the like.

In stores such as supermarkets and department stores, shelf labels that display information such as the prices of the products are placed in the vicinity of the products to be displayed. In recent years, shelves have been digitized, and electronic shelves using liquid crystals or electrophoresis elements as display means have become widespread.

In such an electronic shelf label system using electronic shelf labels, a product is associated with an electronic shelf label that displays information on the product (Patent Documents 1 and 2). Further, a plurality of products displayed on the same display shelf may be associated with one display device having a relatively large width of the display shelf. In this case, based on the display master, which is information representing the detailed display position of each product, which is created in advance, a shelf label displaying the information of the product is arranged at the position corresponding to each product in the display device. (Patent Document 3).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-265196 Japanese Patent No. 5372395 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-99888

In order to effectively attract the attention of customers, store employees may combine multiple products and display them as a group of products that make up one concept. For example, at a clothing store, a total coordination exhibition of a plurality of clothing items may be performed using a mannequin doll. In the case of such a display, the suitable display contents and display setting method of the electronic shelf label have not been sufficiently examined.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic shelf label system that can be suitably adapted when a plurality of products are combined and displayed as a group of products.

In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is an electronic shelf label system including a terminal device, a control device, and one or more shelf label devices, wherein the terminal device includes information on a plurality of products and a plurality of information. The control device acquires the display information and displays the display information for the shelf device corresponding to the identifier of the shelf device based on the display information. The shelf label device is an electronic shelf label system that generates instructions, acquires display instructions for its own device, and displays information on a plurality of products based on the display instructions.

In the electronic shelf label system according to the present invention, by displaying information on a plurality of products on one electronic shelf label, a sense of unity can be suitably produced. Further, the association between a plurality of products and the electronic shelf label can be performed by using the terminal device, and the display content on the electronic shelf label can be easily set.

Functional block diagram of an electronic shelf label system according to an embodiment of the present invention A sequence diagram showing an example of processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the display content of the shelf label apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the display content of the shelf label apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the display content of the shelf label apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the display content of the shelf label apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the display content of the shelf label apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

(Embodiment)
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

<Structure>
FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of the electronic shelf label system 1 according to the present embodiment. The electronic shelf label system 1 includes a terminal device 10, a control device 20, and one or more shelf label devices 30. The control device 20 can communicate with the terminal device 10 and the shelf label device 30, respectively. A plurality of shelf tag devices 30 are typically provided. Each of these can be implemented, for example, as an information device equipped with a processor and a memory.

The terminal device 10 is a portable terminal device such as a handy terminal, a tablet, or a notebook-type personal computer that can be carried by a user who is an employee of the store. The shelf tag device 30 is an electronic shelf tag that is provided with a display unit using a liquid crystal display, an electrophoresis element, or the like and can electronically control the display content, and is installed in the vicinity of the product to display information about the product such as a product name and a price. indicate. The control device 20 is a server device capable of giving a display instruction to the shelf tag device 30 based on the information acquired from the terminal device 10, and the installation position is not limited. The communication paths between the terminal device 10 and the control device 20 and between the control device 20 and the shelf label device 30 are not limited, and other devices such as computers and access points are included in the communication paths. It may intervene.

<Processing>
An example of the process according to this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing. In this example, a user combines a plurality of products and displays them as a group of products constituting one concept, and causes one shelf tag device 30 in the vicinity thereof to display information on each combined product. In this way, if the information of a plurality of products included in the product group is collectively displayed on one electronic shelf label, the information of each product can be presented to the customer at once, and in particular, as a group of products. It is preferable because the concept can be clearly presented.

(Step S101)
The terminal device 10 acquires the identifier of the shelf label device 30 that displays the product information. This can be done, for example, by the user inputting the identifier of the shelf tag device 30 into the terminal device 10. If the terminal device 10 is provided with a reading means such as a camera or an infrared reader, it reads a bar code or the like indicating the identifier of the shelf label device 30 displayed on the display unit of the shelf label device 30 or a portion other than the display unit. This makes it easier to do.

(Step S102)
The terminal device 10 acquires product information. This can be done, for example, by the user inputting the information described in the tag attached to the product to the terminal device 10. The product information is not limited, but is, for example, the product name, price, size, and the like.

If the terminal device 10 is provided with a reading means such as a camera or an infrared reader, it can be performed more easily by reading a bar code or the like indicating the identifier of the product displayed on the tag. In this case, the terminal device 10 acquires the product information by inquiring the information corresponding to the product identifier to an external device that stores and manages the information for each product as the product master in advance. In this way, the user may be able to change a part or all of the information acquired from the outside. For example, the name of the product may be abbreviated, or may be super-conceptualized or sub-conceptualized to a level suitable for the combination.

This step S102 is executed for all the products included in the combination. The execution order of steps S101 and S102 may be reversed.

(Step S103)
The terminal device 10 accepts the designation of the display mode. The display mode is not limited, but is, for example, selection of information to be displayed on the shelf tag device 30, display position and color, vertical / horizontal orientation, and the like. To specify the display mode, for example, the control device 20 provides the terminal device 10 with a template that is information representing a candidate for the display mode, and the terminal device 10 generates an example of the display mode based on the template and presents it to the user. This can be done by accepting a desired display mode from the user. Further, the information to be displayed on the shelf tag device 30 is the individual information of each product acquired in step S102, from the user, a store PC (personal computer), a cloud server, or other unrestricted device in this step. Additional information may be accepted and added. Such additional information is, for example, information specific to a combination of products, such as a heading expressing a concept of a product group or a discount. Further, the template may be stored in advance by the terminal device 10, or may be acquired from other devices such as those described above, which are not limited to the above. It should be noted that a predetermined standard display mode may be used in a fixed manner without providing variations in the display mode.

(Step S104)
The terminal device 10 generates display information based on the product information, the identifier of the shelf label device 30, and the specified content of the display mode, and transmits the display information to the control device 20.

(Step S105)
The control device 20 acquires display information.

(Step S106)
The control device 20 generates a display instruction indicating the display content based on the display information and transmits the display instruction to the shelf tag device 30 corresponding to the identifier included in the display information.

(Step S107)
The shelf tag device 30 acquires a display instruction sent to its own device.

(Step S108)
The shelf tag device 30 displays the display content based on the display instruction.

This concludes the explanation of the sequence. FIG. 3 shows an example of the display contents of the shelf tag device 30. This example is an example in which a plurality of products are displayed by performing a total coordinated display of clothing and the like using a mannequin doll at a clothing store. Tops, innerwear, skirts, and sandals are combined as products, and the product name, the price of each product, and the total price of all products are simultaneously displayed on the shelf tag device 30. In this example, the control device 20 generates a display instruction to display not only the individual information of each product but also the total price which is the total price of all the products based on the information.

FIG. 4 shows another example of the display contents of the shelf tag device 30. In this example, a jacket and a dress are combined as a product, and the shelf tag device 30 simultaneously displays the product name, the price of each product, and the price including tax.

FIG. 5 shows still another example of the display contents of the shelf tag device 30. In this example, a jacket and a dress are combined as a product, and the shelf tag device 30 simultaneously displays the product name, the price of each product, and the price including tax. Furthermore, the fact that these products are discounted products and the discount rate of each price are displayed. For example, the user may input the information regarding such a discount into the terminal device 10, or the terminal device 10 may acquire the information from the product master or the like. In FIG. 5, a display indicating that the discount is being implemented (“clearance sale”) and a round indicator indicating that the discount rate of the jacket is particularly large are shaded, but the actual display is red. As described above, in this example, the control device 20 generates a display instruction to display in a conspicuous manner that each product is collectively discounted as a product group. Further, the control device 20 generates a display instruction so as to display a product having a relatively large discount rate in a more conspicuous manner among the product group.

FIG. 6 shows still another example of the display contents of the shelf tag device 30. In this example, coats, knits, skirts, and sandals are combined as products, and the shelf tag device 30 simultaneously displays the product names, the prices for each product, and the prices including tax. There is. Further, the brands of these products are collectively displayed not for each product but for the product group. As described above, in this example, when the products are the same brand, the control device 20 generates a display instruction to collectively display the brands.

FIG. 7 shows still another example of the display contents of the shelf tag device 30. In this example, coats, knits, skirts, and sandals are combined as products, and the shelf tag device 30 simultaneously displays the product names and the pre-discounted price and the discounted price for each product. .. In addition, it is displayed that each product is discounted at a uniform discount rate as a product group. In FIG. 7, the background part of the display (“30% OFF”) indicating that each product is discounted uniformly and the discounted price (price displayed on the right side) are shaded, but the actual price is shown. The display is red. As described above, in this example, the control device 20 generates a display instruction so as to display in a conspicuous manner that each product is collectively discounted at the same discount rate as a product group.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, for example, when the products included in the product group have common attributes, the display device 20 can display information representing the common attributes as a product common heading. If the display device 20 prepares a template of such a display mode in advance, the display device 20 can generate a display instruction according to such a display mode by the designation from the user in step S103 described above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a user combines a plurality of products and displays them as a group of products, information on a plurality of products included in the product group is collectively displayed on one electronic shelf label. By doing so, a sense of unity can be appropriately produced. In particular, for multiple products, for example, the total price, the same brand, the fact that discounts are being implemented collectively, and the fact that the discount rates are the same, etc., are collectively referred to as a common headline for the product group, not for each product. By generating a display instruction to display the product, a sense of unity can be produced particularly effectively. Further, by associating each product included in the combination with the shelf tag device 30 only by a simple operation using the terminal device 10, a display master in which the display positions of a plurality of products are determined can be created and compared. It is possible to easily set the display content on the shelf tag device 30 without performing time-consuming work. Further, the electronic shelf label system 1 is existing because it does not request the change of the product master or the display master even if the external device that stores and manages the product master is inquired about the product information. The existing external device can be used as it is without affecting the external device of the above, and the introduction cost can be suppressed.

The present invention can be regarded not only as an electronic shelf label system but also as a display method, a program executed by the processor of each device constituting the electronic shelf label system, and a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium that stores the display method and the program. be.

The present invention is useful for electronic shelf label systems.

1 Electronic shelf label system 10 Terminal device 20 Control device 30 Shelf tag device

Claims (7)

An electronic shelf label system including a terminal device, a control device, and one or more shelf label devices.
The terminal device generates display information including information on a plurality of products and an identifier of a shelf label device that displays information on the plurality of products.
The control device acquires the display information, and based on the display information, generates a display instruction for the shelf label device corresponding to the identifier of the shelf label device.
The shelf label device is an electronic shelf label system that acquires the display instruction to the own device and displays information on the plurality of products based on the display instruction. The terminal device is
Each identifier of the plurality of products is acquired from each tag of the plurality of products, and information corresponding to each of the identifiers is acquired from an external device as information of the plurality of products.
The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1, wherein the identifier of the shelf label device is acquired from the display of the shelf label device. The terminal device accepts the designation of the display mode in the shelf tag device, and receives the designation.
The electronic shelf label system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the display information includes a designated display mode. The electronic shelf label system according to claim 3, wherein the control device provides information representing the candidate of the display mode to the terminal device. The electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the display information includes information unique to the combination of the plurality of products. The electronic shelf label system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control device generates a display instruction to display information common to the plurality of products in the form of a common heading for the plurality of products. .. A display method performed by an electronic shelf label system comprising a terminal device, a control device, and one or more shelf label devices.
A step in which the processor of the terminal device generates display information including information on a plurality of products and an identifier of a shelf label device displaying the information on the plurality of products.
A step in which the processor of the control device acquires the display information and generates a display instruction to the shelf label device corresponding to the identifier of the shelf label device based on the display information.
A display method comprising a step in which a processor of the shelf tag device acquires the display instruction to the own device and displays information of the plurality of products based on the display instruction.

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